Mail processing and delivery within a controlled-environment facility

ABSTRACT

An incoming physical mail item addressed to a resident of a controlled-environment facility is converted to a digital format mail item, which is associated with the resident and archived in an electronic database. A determination may be made whether the resident is allowed to receive the physical mail item. If so, the digital format mail item may be delivered to the resident as an electronic message If an electronic message service is not available to the resident, the digital format mail item is printed for distribution to the resident within the controlled-environment facility via a commissary provisioning system, print station, or print kiosk. Delivery via commissary provisioning system may be made at a commissary point-of-sale within the facility, or printed mail items may be included in a commissary order for the resident, and delivered to the resident at the facility with the order.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This specification relates generally to processing of incoming mail toresidents of controlled-environment facilities, more particularly toconverting such mail to a digital format, and specifically to deliveringsuch mail within a controlled-environment facility, such as through useof existing delivery infrastructure for other goods or services such asemail, commissary, medical, library, or the like.

BACKGROUND

Residents of controlled-environment facilities, such as inmates incounty, state and federal correctional facilities, are typicallypermitted to send and receive mail via the postal service. Theprocessing of this “snail mail” represents a significant financial andlabor burden, as all letters must be inspected for contraband,inappropriate language content and hidden messages. Moreover, theletters must be sorted by individual housing unit and distributed to theindividual residents.

The distribution of mail to residents of a controlled-environmentfacility is also an extremely costly and labor-intensive activity. Forevery piece of mail received at the facility, a facility official mustlook up the resident associated with the correspondence, determinewhether the resident is allowed to receive correspondence at all and/ordetermine whether the resident is allowed to receive the correspondencefrom the individual who sent it, sort the mail for delivery based onresident housing assignment, and then spend hours delivering the mailthroughout the facility. Since this is a daily activity, it demandssubstantial facility resources to accomplish the task. Further, mailthat arrives at a correctional facility via the postal service is oftencontaminated, such as with a biohazard. The personnel who areresponsible for opening, examining, reading and sorting the mail areoften necessarily equipped with gloves and masks to prevent infection.This aspect of the job affects personnel recruitment and retention.

In a correctional facility situation, inmate mail can also be a sourceof intelligence with respect to criminal investigations, and the like.For this reason, archiving of correspondence would be helpful, but thepractice is not widespread due to cost (e.g., scanning, maintenance ofstorage media, etc.).

Electronic correspondence is now being permitted in some correctionalfacilities. There are several variants on this process. In somelocations, inmates have access to computers and can send and receiveelectronic messages in a manner similar to traditional email. In otherlocations, electronic messages, such as sent by friends and family, arereviewed and printed for hardcopy distribution. Inmates may be allowedto respond to the inbound messages by submitting a hardcopy message thatis scanned and transmitted to an outside recipient. The systems andprocesses needed for managing electronic and traditional “snail mail”correspondence are typically very different and often requireduplication of effort.

Residents of controlled-environment facilities, such as inmates, areoften permitted to purchase food and clothing items through what istypically referred to as “commissary.” These items may be offeredthrough one or more point-of-sale (POS) walk-up windows or “stores” in afacility or may be ordered in advance and delivered by a designatedcommissary provider. The personnel that prepare the commissary packagesare subject to background checks and are monitored to prevent contrabandintroduction into the facility in this manner. Prior to distribution,the orders are inspected by facility staff for potential contraband andsorted by housing unit.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to systems and methods, which providefor mail processing and delivery via controlled-environment facilitycommissary networks, and the like. In accordance with embodiments of thepresent systems and methods, an incoming physical mail item addressed ordirected to a resident of a controlled-environment facility is receivedand converted, such as by a processor controlled digital imaging device,to a digital format mail item. However, prior to converting the physicalmail item to a digital format mail item, the physical mail item may beopened and inspected. The digital format mail item may then beassociated with the resident, by the one or more processor-basedcomputer systems, or similar means. A copy of the digital format mailitem, as associated with the resident is archived in an electronicdatabase by the one or more processor-based computer systems, which maybe operatively coupled thereto. The digital format mail item may then beprinted by one or more processor-based computer systems and a resultingprinted mail item may be distributed or otherwise provided to theresident. Distribution or provision of the printed digital format mailitem may be via a commissary provisioning system in accordance withvarious embodiments of the present systems and methods. Alternativelyprinting and distribution or provision of the printed digital formatmail item may be via printing of the digital format mail item at aprinting station located in close proximity to resident housing, meal,recreation, or common areas of the controlled-environment facility, orprinting of the digital format mail item at a self-service printingstation kiosk operated by the resident of the controlled-environmentfacility.

However, prior to such printing and delivery, the one or moreprocessor-based computer systems may also determine whether the residentis allowed to receive the physical mail item, and printing of thedigital format mail item for delivery to the resident via a commissaryprovisioning system may only be carried out in response to adetermination that the resident is allowed to receive the physical mailitem. Controlled-environment facility policy and/or procedures may beapplied to the digital format mail item and/or the physical mail item inresponse to a determination that the resident is not allowed to receivethe physical mail item. For example, if the resident is not allowed toreceive the physical mail item, the controlled-environment facilitypolicy and/or procedures may call for deleting the digital format mailitem and/or destroying the physical mail item.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present systems and methods,a determination may be made whether an electronic message service isavailable to the resident and the digital format mail item may bedelivered to the resident as an electronic message if an electronicmessage service is available to the resident. Conversely, the digitalformat mail item may be printed for delivery to the resident via acommissary provisioning system if an electronic message service is notavailable to the resident.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present systems andmethods, printing and delivery via a commissary provisioning system maycomprise printing the digital format mail item at a commissary Point ofSale (POS) within the controlled-environment facility. In suchembodiments an identity of the resident may be confirmed and the digitalformat mail item may only be printed in response to confirming anidentity of the resident. Such confirmation of the identity of theresident may include scanning an identification bracelet worn by theresident, or the like. Printing and delivery via a commissaryprovisioning system, in accordance with various other embodiments of thepresent systems and methods, may comprise printing the digital formatmail item, including the resulting printed mail item in a commissaryorder for the resident, and delivering the commissary order thatincludes the printed mail item to the resident at thecontrolled-environment facility. In such embodiments, printing thedigital format mail item may be carried out in response to scanning of acommissary order form of the resident. Under these embodiments if it isdetermined that a mail item is addressed to a resident that does nothave a commissary order, an (empty) commissary delivery may be createdfor the resident, the printed mail item may be included as a commissarydelivery for the resident, and the printed mail item may be delivered tothe resident, as a commissary delivery, at the controlled-environmentfacility.

In accordance with embodiments of the present systems and methods, thecontrolled-environment facility may be a correctional facility and theresident may be an inmate of the controlled-environment facility.However, in other embodiments the controlled-environment facility may bea hospital, nursing home, camp, military facility, or any othercontrolled-environment facility, while the resident may, be a patient,camper, soldier, or other corresponding controlled-environment facilityresident.

In various embodiments, one or more of the techniques described hereinmay be performed by one or more computer systems. In other variousembodiments, a tangible computer-readable storage medium may haveprogram instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by one or morecomputer systems, cause the one or more computer systems to execute oneor more operations disclosed herein. In yet other various embodiments,one or more systems may each include at least one processor and memorycoupled to the processors, wherein the memory is configured to storeprogram instructions executable by the processor(s) to cause thesystem(s) to execute one or more operations disclosed herein.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of the present invention in order that the detaileddescription of the invention that follows may be better understood.Additional features and advantages of the invention will be describedhereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. Itshould be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conceptionand specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by thoseskilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic ofthe invention, both as to its organization and method of operation,together with further objects and advantages will be better understoodfrom the following description when considered in connection with theaccompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, thateach of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration anddescription only and is not intended as a definition of the limits ofthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn toscale. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and formpart of the specification in which like numerals designate like parts,illustrate embodiments of the present invention and together with thedescription, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In thedrawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic flowchart of an example procedure for mailprocessing and delivery via controlled-environment facility commissarynetworks, in accordance with at least one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration showing an example flow of mail inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration showing another example flow ofmail in accordance with some other embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration showing another example flow ofmail in accordance with further embodiments; and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a computer system, device, or stationconfigured to implement various techniques disclosed herein according tosome embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings. In particular, embodiments ofthe present systems and methods may be described below with respect tospecific types of controlled-environment facilities, such as acorrectional facility, prison, jail, or the like. This invention may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein. As but one example thecontrolled-environment facility may be a hospital, and the resident apatient. A still further example may be where the controlled-environmentfacility is a camp, and the resident campers. The discussed embodimentsare provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, andwill fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in theart. One skilled in the art may be able to use the various embodimentsof the invention.

This specification describes example embodiments for processing incomingmail to residents of a controlled-environment facility, such as byconverting such mail to a digital format and providing a printed copy ofthe digital mail item to the resident within the controlled-environmentfacility. For example, embodiments call for delivering such printeddigital mail items employing existing infrastructure for delivery ofother goods or services, such as commissary, medical, library books, orthe like. In accordance with embodiments of the present systems andmethods, an incoming physical mail item addressed to a resident of acontrolled-environment facility is converted to a digital format mailitem, which is associated with the resident and archived in anelectronic database. A determination may be made whether the resident isallowed to receive the physical mail item. If so, the digital formatmail item may be delivered to the resident as an electronic message ifan electronic message service is available to the resident, or if not,the digital format mail item is printed to be distributed or other wiseprovided to the resident, such as via a commissary provisioning system,at a local print station within the controlled-environment facility, orthe like. Print and delivery via a commissary provisioning system may bemade at a commissary point of sale within the controlled-environmentfacility, or a printed digital format mail item may be included in acommissary order for the resident, and delivered to the resident at thecontrolled-environment facility with the resident's commissary order.Hence, the present systems and methods combine electronic andtraditional mail into a single, comprehensive system that leverages themost appropriate distribution network within the framework of acontrolled-environment facility's current operations.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic flowchart of example procedure 100 for mailprocessing and delivery via controlled-environment facility commissarynetworks, in accordance with at least one embodiment. As discussed ingreater detail below, process 100, or at least various steps thereof,may be carried out by the controlled-environment facility, or by anoutside vendor employing policies and procedures of thecontrolled-environment facility. Processing centers, or the like, may beimplemented for large institutions such as Departments of Corrections,in accordance with various embodiments of the present systems andmethods centralized mail processing, which may result in significantcost savings, integration of investigative efforts, etc.

In various embodiments of process 100, letter 101 sent via the postalservice, UPS, Federal Express or other physical mail carrier to adesignated address for delivery to a controlled environment facilityresident, such as a letter mailed to an inmate of a correctionalinstitution by a friend or family member, is converted to a digitalformat and associated with the resident at 102. This conversion may becarried out by scanning the letter, taking a digital image (photograph)of the letter, and/or the like. The digital format may be a “direct”image file, such as JPEG, TIFF, PNG, or the like. Additionally oralternatively, the digital format may be a “locked” searchable file,such as a text PDF file, or the like, which may be derived throughperforming an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) operation on an imagefile resulting from an optical scan of the letter. Further, the digitalformat may alternatively or additionally be a fully editable and/orannotatable document, which may again be derived from OCR operations onan image file resulting from an optical scan of the letter.

In accordance with various embodiments, information that the facilitytypically tracks in association with a letter, in accordance with thefacility's policies and procedure, and/or information that the facilitywishes to track employing the present systems and methods, may beincluded and/or associated with the digital file (e.g., sender name,sender address, etc.). At 103, the digital rendering is saved in anarchive.

At 104, the digital rendering is subjected to the facility's approvalprocess, such as may be part of the aforementioned facility's policiesand procedures. For example, a determination may be made at 104 whetherthe resident is allowed to receive correspondence at all, whether theresident is allowed to receive the particular correspondence from theindividual who sent it, a disciplinary status of the resident, and/orthe like. In accordance with assorted embodiments of the present systemsand methods, pictures or images within the mail correspondence may beprocessed to determine if they contained nudity or other offensivematerial. Pictures may be delivered based on this determination orblurred by region to make them acceptable, in accordance with someembodiments. In accordance with some embodiments the mail may beautomatically filtered or modified to remove offensive language orsymbols before delivery to the resident. The scanned mail can besubjected to Optical Marking Recognition (OMR) and/or keyword searching.For example, object recognition algorithms may be employed to determineif gang symbols or other coded material existed on the pages.

In accordance with investigative implementations employing embodimentsof the present systems and methods, analysis may be performed on mailcorrespondence to identify, and/or confirm the identity of, the outsideparty based on handwriting, word choice, grammar, punctuation, spelling,capitalization, word frequency, or other criteria. In accordance withinvestigative implementations employing embodiments of the presentsystems and methods, alerts may be generated based on rules establishedby the facility whenever a particular inmate receives correspondence,when certain keywords are flagged in received correspondence during areview, such as at 104, whenever a particular outside person sends mail,etc. Mail statistics can be integrated into a larger investigative tooltracking an inmate's associations based on mail correspondence, whichmay be further correlated with other information such as telephoneusage, deposits, etc. When coupled with naïve Baysian filter, artificialintelligence system, or similar data mining tool, the present systemsand methods may be used, such as in investigative embodiments orfacility management embodiments to identify certain residentcharacteristics based on the content of mail correspondence such as gangaffiliation, suicidal tendencies, escape risk, etc.

Hence, whether or not the mail message is rejected at 104, applicationof controlled-environment facility policy and/or procedures to thedigital format mail item and/or the physical mail item may result increating alerts to staff of the controlled-environment facility,identification of characteristics of the resident for investigativepurposes, censoring disallowed images or words in the mail message,enforcing limits on the number of mail messages delivered to a residentover a given period of time, routing of the digital format mail item toa controlled-environment staff member for review, and/or the like.

Regardless, at 104 a determination may be made as to whether the mailmessage is either approved or rejected. If rejected, normal facilitypolicy for rejected mailings may be followed at 105. For example, thedigital file may be erased and the original physical correspondencedestroyed, the digital file and/or the original physical correspondencemay be turned over to an investigative body or agency, the digital fileand original physical correspondence may be archived for laterdistribution to the resident such as after a disciplinary period or uponthe resident's release, or similar action may be taken with the digitalfile and/or original physical correspondence.

However, if approved at 104, the mail message may be delivered throughelectronic means, if available. For example, a determination may be madeat 106 whether electronic mail delivery is available for the receivingresident, and if it is, the mail message may be delivered to theresident at 107, in a manner prescribed by the resident's facility. Somecontrolled-environment facilities allow residents access to electronicmessaging, such as emails via a digital distribution network of somesort. For example, kiosks disposed in correctional facility cellblocksor pods may provide inmates various means of communication such astelephone, video phone, email access, web access, or the like.Alternatively or additionally, some correctional facilities allowinmates to have tablet computing devices or the like specificallyadapted or approved for use in the facility, which may be used to accessemail, the Internet, text messages, or the like. Thus, in accordancewith embodiments of the present systems and methods, the mail may beautomatically routed to an electronic device accessible by the inmate toread the correspondence, and to reply, as permitted. In accordance withsome embodiments, it may be advantageous to convert a resident's digitalreply, such as a reply email, to regular mail for delivery through thepostal service.

Conversely, if at 106 it is determined electronic mail, or the like, isnot available for the recipient resident, distribution of a printed copyof the digital format mail item to the resident, within thecontrolled-environment facility, may be carried out. For example,delivery of the mail message may be incorporated into a commissarydelivery network at 108, in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent systems and methods. In such an example, if the facilityprovides commissary through a point-of-sale (POS) “window operation”(109), the mail message may be printed at that location and distributedto the residents serviced by that window, at 110. Alternatively,printing of the digital format mail item for distribution within thecontrolled-environment facility may be carried out by printing thedigital format mail item at a printing station located in thecontrolled-environment facility in close proximity to resident housing,meal, recreation, and/or common areas of the controlled-environmentfacility at 111. As a further alternative, at 112, printing the digitalformat mail item for distribution within the controlled-environmentfacility may be carried out through printing of the digital format mailitem at a self-service printing station kiosk operated by the residentof the controlled-environment facility. Regardless, notifications may beprovided to a resident that he should pickup mail at a POS location, orotherwise retrieve mail at a printing station or the like. Suchnotifications might be triggered when the receiving resident accesses akiosk, uses his or her media device adapted or approved for use in thecontrolled-environment facility, accesses a resident telephone system,or the like. Alternatively, or additionally other resident informationdissemination systems may be used to distribute such notifications suchas a streaming banner board, or the like. This notification may indicatethat the resident should pick up his or her mail at a predetermineddistribution point, such as the POS location. A mechanism to preventunauthorized access to the resident mail may also be included in suchembodiments. For example, the resident could be required to enter a pincode or swipe an ID to cause mail to print. In various correctionalfacility embodiments, an identification bracelet, which may include anRFID chip, barcode, and/or the like, may be scanned/read to enableprinting. Such identification requirements prior to printing may enableprevention of window workers from printing and reading mail prior to aresident/inmate receiving it.

If the facility provides commissary via a “bag and deliver” operation(113), the mail may be integrated into the commissary order for eachindividual resident, to provide a commissary order and inbound mailpackage for each resident, in accordance with embodiments of the presentsystems and methods. In such embodiments, printing of a particularresident's mail may occur as part of a commissary order fulfillmentprocess at 114. For example, a barcode scanner connected to a printermay read a barcode (e.g. a resident identification barcode, or the like)on an order form for a current order being filled, at 114, promptingretrieval and printing of the mail message. A mechanism and/or processmay be employed to insure that mail cannot be read by order fulfillmentworkers in certain embodiments. For example, the printer may generate asealed document, a coversheet, or the like. Regardless, the mail messageis included in the resident's commissary order at 115.

If resident mail remains after filing of commissary orders, adetermination may be made at 116 that ensures or confirms that therecipient resident has no commissary order, whereupon mail may beprinted at the facility at 117 for optimal distribution, by thefacility, by commissary workers, or the like. Alternatively, if residentmail remains after filing of commissary orders and it is confirmed therecipient resident has no commissary order an (empty) “commissary order”may be created at 118 that consists solely of the resident's mail itemsfor delivery, alongside other commissary orders for other residents.

When thus integrated with a commissary distribution network, embodimentsof the present systems and methods may print mail messages at the sametime as commissary receipts, avoiding significant additional work forcommissary company workers whether at POS window operation 109 or in abag and deliver operation 113. Hence, an existing commissarydistribution network, or the like may be leveraged to also include mailitems and thereby eliminate, or at least greatly reduce, the need forcostly mail processing at the facility.

In accordance with embodiments of the present systems and methods, adelivery receipt may be generated when the resident receives the mailcorrespondence, such as through the email system of the like whichdelivers the electronic message in electronic delivery embodiments, orupon printing of the mail message at a POS delivered physical deliveryembodiment, or as part of a delivery confirmation process in a packagedelivery embodiment. Also, in accordance with both electronic deliveryembodiments and physical delivery embodiments, the present systems andmethods may be capable of tracking when a resident receives a mailmessage, while electronic embodiments may be further capable of trackingwhen the resident reads the message.

Advantageously, implementation of embodiments of the present systems andmethods may provide aggregation and reconciliation of physical andelectronic mail and result in all electronic and physical mail beinghandled in a consistent manner and archived together allowinginvestigations to be done with ease, etc. Further, embodiments of thepresent systems and methods help to eliminate physical contraband andbiohazard from entering the facility via mail since the original mailitems never reach the resident.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration showing an example flow of mail inaccordance with some embodiments. Therein, system 200 for delivery ofmail to resident 202 of controlled-environment facility 204 includesimaging device 206 operatively coupled to computer system 208. Imagingdevice 206 and/or computer 208 may or may not be co-located withincontrolled-environment facility 204. For example, imaging device 206 andcomputer 208 are illustrated in FIG. 2, outside ofcontrolled-environment facility 204, at a vendor facility, 210. Computersystem 208 may include at least one processor and a memory coupled tothe at least one processor, the memory configured to store programinstructions executable by the at least one processor to cause thesystem to carry out a number of operations. For example, physical mailitems 212 may be imaged using imaging device 206 to providecorresponding digital format mail items and each digital format mailitem may be associated with a controlled-environment facility residentthat the item is addressed to. A copy of each so associated digitalformat mail item may be archived, such as on database 214.

Computer system 208 may, in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent systems and methods, determine whether the resident (202)physical mail item 212 is addressed to is allowed to receive thephysical mail item. In accordance with various embodiments of thepresent systems and methods, if a determination is made, such as bycomputer system 208 that resident 202 is not allowed to receive physicalmail item 212, computer system 208 may apply controlled-environmentfacility policy and/or procedures to the digital format mail item and/orthe physical mail item. Such application of controlled-environmentfacility policy and/or procedures to the digital format mail item maycall for archiving the format mail item, such as to database 214, forlater distribution to resident 202, such as following the end of anyapplicable resident disciplinary period, upon the resident's releasefrom the controlled-environment facility, or at other such time.Alternatively, such application of policy and/or procedures to thedigital format mail item may call for deleting the digital format mailitem and/or destroying physical mail item 212, such as by shredding itin shredder 216, recycling, burning, etc. However, if it is determinedthat resident 202 is allowed to receive physical mail item 212, it isdelivered to the resident.

If, as in system 200 illustrated in FIG. 2, an electronic messageservice is available to resident 202, the digital format mail item maythen be delivered to the resident (202) it is addressed to as anelectronic message in response to a determination that the resident isallowed to receive physical mail item 212, such as via acontrolled-environment facility computer terminal, communicationsterminal 218, resident digital media device, or the like, capable ofreceiving the electronic message.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration showing an example flow of mail inaccordance with some other embodiments. Therein, system 300 for deliveryof mail to resident 302 of controlled-environment facility 304 includes,similar to system 200 described above, imaging device 306 operativelycoupled to computer system 308. Imaging device 306 and/or computer 308may or may not be co-located within controlled-environment facility 304.Imaging device 306 and computer 308 are, by way of example, illustratedin FIG. 3 as being outside of controlled-environment facility 304, atvendor facility 310. Again, computer system 308 may include at least oneprocessor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memoryconfigured to store program instructions executable by the at least oneprocessor to cause the system to carry out a number of operations. Towit, physical mail items 312 may be imaged using imaging device 306 toprovide corresponding digital format mail items and each digital formatmail item may be associated with a controlled-environment facilityresident that the item is addressed to. A copy of each so associateddigital format mail item may be archived, such as to database 314.

Computer system 308 may, in accordance with such embodiments of thepresent systems and methods, determine whether resident 302, whomphysical mail item 312 is addressed to, is allowed to receive thephysical mail item. In accordance with various embodiments of thepresent systems and methods, if a determination is made, such as bycomputer system 308 that resident 302 is not allowed to receive physicalmail item 312, computer system 308 may apply controlled-environmentfacility policy and/or procedures to the digital format mail item and/orthe physical mail item. For example, the digital format mail item may bearchived, such as to database 314, for later distribution to resident302, such as following the end of any applicable resident disciplinaryperiod, upon the resident's release from the controlled-environmentfacility, or at other such time. Alternatively, such application ofpolicy and/or procedures to the digital format mail item may call fordeleting the digital format mail item and/or destroying physical mailitem 312, such as by shredding it in shredder 316, recycling, burning,etc.

However, if it is determined that resident 302 is allowed to receivephysical mail item 312, it is delivered to the resident. If anelectronic message service is not available to the resident, as is oftenthe case, means for printing the digital format mail item fordistribution or otherwise providing the printed digital mail item to thereceiving resident may be provided. For example, delivery to theresident via a commissary provisioning system may be provided inaccordance with embodiments of the present systems and methods,consistent with system 300 illustrated in FIG. 3. The means for printingthe digital format mail item may take the form of printer 318, or thelike, disposed at a commissary POS 320 located within or in conjunctionwith controlled-environment facility 304. This POS may take the form ofa walk-up window (as illustrated), a kiosk, a store, a vending machine,or the like, located within, or in conjunction with controlledenvironment facility 304 (such as immediately adjacent tocontrolled-environment facility 304). Alternatively (or additionally), ameans for printing and distributing the digital format mail item maytake the form of printing station 322 located in close proximity toresident housing, meal, recreation, common areas and/or the like. As afurther alternative (or additional means) for printing and distributingthe digital format mail item a self-service printing station kiosk 324,such as may be operated by resident 302 of controlled-environmentfacility 304, may be employed.

POS 320 and/or printing stations/kiosks 322 and/or 324 may employ ameans for scanning identification of resident 302 to print the digitalformat mail item for delivery to the resident. By way of example, such ascanner (326) may take the form of a RIFD scanner to scan an RIFDbracelet worn by resident 302, an optical scanner or reader (i.e. a barcode reader) to scan a barcode such as may be worn by the resident on abracelet or clothing, a biometric scanner such as a fingerprint reader,or other identification device, any of which may be couple to therespective printer, such as shown with respect to printer 318, via POSterminal/computer system 328.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration showing an example flow of mail inaccordance with further embodiments. Therein, system 400 for delivery ofmail to resident 402 of controlled-environment facility 404 includes,similar to systems 200 and 300 described above, imaging device 406operatively coupled to computer system 408. Imaging device 406 and/orcomputer 408 may or may not be co-located within controlled-environmentfacility 404. Imaging device 406 and computer 408 are illustrated inFIG. 4, outside of controlled-environment facility, at vendor facility410. Computer system 408 may include at least one processor and a memorycoupled to the at least one processor, the memory configured to storeprogram instructions executable by the at least one processor to causethe system to carry out a number of operations. For example, physicalmail items 412 may be imaged using imaging device 406 to providecorresponding digital format mail items and each digital format mailitem may be associated with a controlled-environment facility residentthat the item is addressed to. A copy of each digital format mail itemmay be archived, such as on database 414, associated with the residentit is addressed to.

Computer system 408 may, in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent systems and methods, determine whether resident 402, theresident physical mail item 412 is addressed to, is allowed to receivethe physical mail item. In accordance with various embodiments of thepresent systems and methods, if a determination is made, such as bycomputer system 408 that resident 402 is not allowed to receive physicalmail item 412, computer system 408 may apply controlled-environmentfacility policy and/or procedures to the digital format mail item and/orthe physical mail item. Such application of controlled-environmentfacility policy and/or procedures to the digital format mail item maycall for archiving the format mail item, such as to database 414, forlater distribution to resident 402, such as following the end of anyapplicable resident disciplinary period, upon the resident's releasefrom the controlled-environment facility, or at other such time.Alternatively, such application of policy and/or procedures to thedigital format mail item may call for deleting the digital format mailitem and/or destroying physical mail item 412, such as by shredding itin shredder 416, recycling, burning, etc.

However, if it is determined that resident 402 is allowed to receivephysical mail item 412, it is delivered to the resident. If, as is oftenthe case, an electronic message service is not available to theresident, the digital format mail item may be printed and delivered tothe resident via a commissary bag and deliver arrangement in accordancewith embodiments of the present systems and methods, as illustrated inFIG. 4.

The means for printing the digital format mail item may take the form ofprinter 422, or the like in communication with computer system 408, suchas may be disposed at vendor location 410. The digital format mail itemis printed on printer 422 and the resulting printed mail item 424 isincluded in commissary order 426 for resident 402 for delivery (428) toresident 402 in/at controlled-environment facility 404. In accordancewith various embodiments of the present systems and methods, printing ofthe digital format mail item may be carried-out in response to scanningof commissary order form 430 of resident 402, such as scanning of abarcode, or the like, on order form 430, using an appropriate scanner,such as bar code scanner 432, in communication with, by way of example,computer system 408, or the like.

Embodiments of the present systems and methods for mail processing anddelivery via controlled-environment facility commissary networks, asdescribed herein, may be implemented or executed, at least in part, byone or more computer systems. One such computer system is illustrated inFIG. 5. In various embodiments, computer system or station 500 may be aserver, a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network computer,a desktop computer, a laptop, or the like. For example, in some cases,computer 500 may implement one or more steps of example procedure 100described above, and/or a computer system such as computer system 500may be used as, or as part of, one or more of: computer systems 208, 308and/or 408; communications terminal 218; and/or POS terminal/computersystem 326. In various embodiments two or more of these computer systemsmay be configured to communicate with each other in any suitable way,such as, for example, via a network (e.g., in FIG. 3 computer system 308may be networked with POS terminal/computer system 326, via theInternet, a private network, or the like).

As illustrated, example computer system 500 includes one or moreprocessors 510 coupled to a system memory 520 via an input/output (I/O)interface 530. Example computer system 500 further includes a networkinterface 540 coupled to I/O interface 530, and one or more input/outputdevices 550, such as video device(s) 560 (e.g., a camera), audiodevice(s) 570 (e.g., a microphone and/or a speaker), and display(s) 580.Computer system 500 may also include a cursor control device (e.g., amouse or touchpad), a keyboard, etc. Multiple input/output devices 550may be present in computer system 500 or may be distributed on variousnodes of computer system 500. In some embodiments, similar input/outputdevices may be separate from computer system 500 and may interact withone or more nodes of computer system 500 through a wired or wirelessconnection, such as over network interface 540.

In various embodiments, computer system 500 may be a single-processorsystem including one processor 510, or a multi-processor systemincluding two or more processors 510 (e.g., two, four, eight, or anothersuitable number). Processors 510 may be any processor capable ofexecuting program instructions. For example, in various embodiments,processors 510 may be general-purpose or embedded processorsimplementing any of a variety of instruction set architectures (ISAs),such as the x86, POWERPC®, ARM®, SPARC®, or MIPS® ISAs, or any othersuitable ISA. In multi-processor systems, each of processors 510 maycommonly, but not necessarily, implement the same ISA. Also, in someembodiments, at least one processor 510 may be a graphics processingunit (GPU) or other dedicated graphics-rendering device.

System memory 520 may be configured to store program instructions and/ordata accessible by processor 510. In various embodiments, system memory520 may be implemented using any suitable memory technology, such asstatic random access memory (SRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM),nonvolatile/Flash-type memory, or any other type of memory. Asillustrated, program instructions and data implementing certainoperations, such as, for example, those described in connection withFIGS. 1 through 4, may be stored within system memory 520 as programinstructions 525 and data storage 535, respectively. In otherembodiments, program instructions and/or data may be received, sent orstored upon different types of computer-accessible media or on similarmedia separate from system memory 520 or computer system 500. Generallyspeaking, a computer-readable medium may include any tangible ornon-transitory storage media or memory media such as magnetic or opticalmedia—e.g., disk or CD/DVD-ROM coupled to computer system 500 via I/Ointerface 530, Flash memory, random access memory (RAM), etc. Programinstructions and data stored on a tangible computer-accessible medium innon-transitory form may further be transmitted by transmission media orsignals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals, whichmay be conveyed via a communication medium such as a network and/or awireless link, such as may be implemented via network interface 540.

In an embodiment, I/O interface 530 may be configured to coordinate I/Otraffic between processor 510, system memory 520, and any peripheraldevices in the device, including network interface 540 or otherperipheral interfaces, such as input/output devices 550. In someembodiments, I/O interface 530 may perform any suitable protocol, timingor other data transformations to convert data signals from one component(e.g., system memory 520) into a format usable by another component(e.g., processor 510). In some embodiments, I/O interface 530 mayinclude support for devices attached through various types of peripheralbuses, such as a variant of the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)bus standard or the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard, for example. Insome embodiments, the function of I/O interface 530 may be split intotwo or more separate components, such as a north bridge and a southbridge, for example. In addition, in some embodiments, some or all ofthe functionality of I/O interface 530, such as an interface to systemmemory 520, may be incorporated into processor 510.

Network interface 540 may be configured to allow data to be exchangedbetween computer system 500 and other devices attached to a network,such as other computer systems, or between nodes of computer system 500.In various embodiments, network interface 540 may support communicationvia wired or wireless general data networks, such as any suitable typeof Ethernet network, for example; via telecommunications/telephonynetworks such as analog voice networks or digital fiber communicationsnetworks; via storage area networks such as Fiber Channel SANs, or viaany other suitable type of network and/or protocol.

As shown in FIG. 5, memory 520 may include program instructions 525,configured to implement certain embodiments described herein, and datastorage 535, comprising various data accessible by program instructions525. In an embodiment, program instructions 525 may include softwareelements corresponding to one or more of the various embodimentsillustrated in the above figures. For example, program instructions 525may be implemented in various embodiments using any desired programminglanguage, scripting language, or combination of programming languagesand/or scripting languages (e.g., C, C++, C#, JAVA®, JAVASCRIPT®, PERL®,etc.). Data storage 535 may include data that may be used in theseembodiments. In other embodiments, other or different software elementsand data may be included.

A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that computersystem 500 is merely illustrative and is not intended to limit the scopeof the disclosure described herein. In particular, the computer systemand devices may include any combination of hardware or software that canperform the indicated operations. Additionally, the operations performedby the illustrated components may, in some embodiments, be performed byfewer components or distributed across additional components. Similarly,in other embodiments, the operations of some of the illustratedcomponents may not be provided and/or other additional operations may beavailable. Accordingly, systems and methods described herein may beimplemented or executed with other computer system configurations.

Although the present invention and its advantages have been described indetail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions andalterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, thescope of the present application is not intended to be limited to theparticular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, compositionof matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. Asone of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from thedisclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture,compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing orlater to be developed that perform substantially the same function orachieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodimentsdescribed herein may be utilized according to the present invention.Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within theirscope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter,means, methods, or steps.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: converting, by a processorcontrolled digital imaging device, an incoming physical mail item to adigital format mail item; associating the digital format mail item withthe resident by one or more processor-based computer systems; archivinga copy of the digital format mail item, associated with the resident, inan electronic database by the one or more processor-based computersystems; determining, by the one or more processor-based computersystems, whether the resident is allowed to receive the physical mailitem; determining by the one or more processor-based computer systems,whether an electronic message service is available to the resident;delivering the digital format mail item to the resident as an electronicmessage directed to the resident by the one or more processor-basedcomputer systems, in response to a determination that the resident isallowed to receive the physical mail item, if an electronic messageservice is available to the resident; and printing the digital formatmail item, by the one or more processor-based computer systems, fordistribution within the controlled-environment facility, in response toa determination that the resident is allowed to receive the physicalmail item, if an electronic message service is not available to theresident.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein distribution of a printeddigital format mail item within the controlled-environment facilitycomprises delivering the printed digital format mail item to theresident via a commissary provisioning system.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein printing and delivering via a commissary provisioning systemcomprises printing the digital format mail item at a commissary point ofsale within the controlled-environment facility.
 4. The method of claim3, further comprising: confirming an identity of the resident; andprinting the digital format mail item in response to confirming anidentity of the resident.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein confirmingthe identity of the resident comprises scanning an identificationbracelet worn by the resident.
 6. The method of claim 2, whereinprinting and delivery via a commissary provisioning system comprises:printing the digital format mail item; including the resulting printedmail item in a commissary order for the resident; and delivering thecommissary order that includes the printed mail item to the resident atthe controlled-environment facility.
 7. The method of claim 6, whereinprinting the digital format mail item is carried out in response toscanning of a commissary order form of the resident.
 8. The method ofclaim 6, further comprising: determining that the mail item is addressedto a resident that does not have a commissary delivery scheduled;creating a commissary delivery request for the resident; including theprinted mail item during a commissary delivery for the resident; anddelivering the printed mail item to the resident, during the commissarydelivery, at the controlled-environment facility.
 9. The method of claim1, wherein printing the digital format mail item for distribution withinthe controlled-environment facility comprises printing the digitalformat mail item at a printing station located in thecontrolled-environment facility in close proximity to resident housing,meal, recreation, and/or common areas of the controlled-environmentfacility.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein printing the digital formatmail item for distribution within the controlled-environment facilitycomprises printing the digital format mail item at a self-serviceprinting station kiosk operated by the resident of thecontrolled-environment facility.
 11. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising applying controlled-environment facility policy and/orprocedures to the digital format mail item and/or the physical mail itemin response to a determination that the resident is not allowed toreceive the physical mail item.
 12. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising applying controlled-environment facility policy and/orprocedures to the digital format mail item and/or the physical mail itemand in response, creating alerts for staff of the controlled-environmentfacility.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising applyingcontrolled-environment facility policy and/or procedures to the digitalformat mail item and/or the physical mail item and in response,identifying characteristics of the resident for investigative purposes.14. The method of claim 1, further comprising applyingcontrolled-environment facility policy and/or procedures to the digitalformat mail item to censor disallowed images or words.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising applying controlled-environment facilitypolicy and/or procedures to the digital format mail item and/or thephysical mail item enforcing limits on the number of mail messagesdelivered to a resident over a given period of time.
 16. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising applying controlled-environment facilitypolicy and/or procedures to the digital format mail item and/or thephysical mail item to route the digital format mail item to acontrolled-environment staff member for review.
 17. The method of claim1, further comprising opening and inspecting the physical mail itemprior to converting the physical mail item to a digital format mailitem.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlled-environmentfacility is a correctional facility and the resident is an inmate of thecontrolled-environment facility.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium having program instructions stored thereon that, uponexecution by one or more computer systems, cause the one or morecomputer systems to: convert, by a processor controlled digital imagingdevice, an incoming physical mail item addressed to a resident of acontrolled-environment facility to a digital format mail item; associatethe digital format mail item with the resident; archive a copy of thedigital format mail item, associated with the resident, in an electronicdatabase; determine whether the resident is allowed to receive thephysical mail item; apply controlled-environment facility policy and/orprocedures to the digital format mail item and/or the physical mail itemin response to a determination that the resident is not allowed toreceive the physical mail item; determine whether an electronic messageservice is available to the resident; deliver the digital format mailitem to the resident as an electronic message directed to the residentin response to a determination that the resident is allowed to receivethe physical mail item, if an electronic message service is available tothe resident; and print the digital format mail item for distributionwithin the controlled-environment facility, in response to adetermination that the resident is allowed to receive the physical mailitem, if an electronic message service is not available to the resident.20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19,wherein distribution of a printed digital format mail item within thecontrolled-environment facility comprises delivery of the printeddigital format mail item to the resident via a commissary provisioningsystem.
 21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim20, wherein print and delivery via a commissary provisioning systemcomprises printing the digital format mail item at a commissary point ofsale within the controlled-environment facility.
 22. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein print and deliveryvia a commissary provisioning system comprises: printing the digitalformat mail item; including the resulting printed mail item in acommissary order for the resident; and delivering the commissary orderthat includes the printed mail item to the resident at thecontrolled-environment facility.
 23. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein print of thedigital format mail item for distribution within thecontrolled-environment facility comprises print of the digital formatmail item at a printing station located in the controlled-environmentfacility in close proximity to resident housing, meal, recreation,and/or common areas of the controlled-environment facility.
 24. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, whereinprint of the digital format mail item for distribution within thecontrolled-environment facility comprises print of the digital formatmail item at a self-service printing station kiosk operated by theresident of the controlled-environment facility.
 25. A system fordelivery of mail to a resident of a controlled-environment facilitycomprising: an imaging device operatively coupled to a computer system;the computer system comprising: at least one processor; and a memorycoupled to the at least one processor, the memory configured to storeprogram instructions executable by the at least one processor to causethe system to: image each physical mail item using the imaging device toprovide corresponding digital format mail items; associate each digitalformat mail item with a controlled-environment facility resident theitem is addressed to; archive a copy of each digital format mail item;determine whether a resident the physical mail item is addressed to isallowed to receive the physical mail item; and deliver each digitalformat mail item to the resident it is addressed to as an electronicmessage in response to a determination that the resident is allowed toreceive the physical mail item, if an electronic message service isavailable to the resident; and means for printing the digital formatmail item for provision to the resident, in response to a determinationthat the resident is allowed to receive the mail item, if an electronicmessage service is not available to the resident.
 26. The system ofclaim 25, further comprising means for scanning identification of aresident to print the digital format mail item for delivery to theresident operatively coupled to the means for printing.
 27. The systemof claim 25, wherein the means for printing is disposed at a commissarypoint of sale within the controlled-environment facility.
 28. The systemof claim 25, wherein a printed digital mail item is provided to theresident via a bag and deliver commissary system, wherein the printedmail item is included in a commissary order for the resident fordelivery to the resident at the controlled-environment facility.
 29. Thesystem of claim 25, wherein the means for printing is disposed at aprinting station located in the controlled-environment facility in closeproximity to resident housing, meal, recreation, and/or common areas ofthe controlled-environment facility.
 30. The system of claim 25, whereinthe means for printing is a self-service printing station kiosk operatedby the resident of the controlled-environment facility.
 31. The systemof claim 25, wherein the program instructions are further executable bythe at least one processor to cause the system to applycontrolled-environment facility policy and/or procedures to the digitalformat mail item and/or the physical mail item in response to adetermination that the resident is not allowed to receive the physicalmail item.
 32. The system of claim 31, wherein applyingcontrolled-environment facility policy and/or procedures to the digitalformat mail item and/or the physical mail item includes deleting thedigital format mail item and/or destroying the physical mail item.